Scrumptious Street

Tangelo-Coriander Brown Rice Pilaf

I'm still in mundane corporate housing and rarely cooking due to the awful kitchen and equipment.  The fantastic news is that we have found a gorgeous house with the kitchen of my DREAMS, and we'll be moving the second weekend in November.  Be patient, my dear readers.  Things will soon get extra Scrumptious around here!

In the meantime, here's a delightful take on rice pilaf.  This one is terrific for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.  It's healthy, hearty and packed with flavor.  I seasoned it in my own experimental style, using sweet fresh tangelo juice and tangy, spicy coriander.  It was delicious and would go very well with poultry or pork, and you could easily play with the spices, sweetness or tartness a little more.   This is my "Tangelo-Coriander Brown Rice Pilaf."

Ingredients
Makes about 3 cups cooked, 4 servings

1 c. brown rice
2 1/2 c. vegetable stock
1/2 c. fresh squeezed tangelo juice
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 c. shelled fresh green peas
1 fresh apricot, cored and diced
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 T. chopped raw almonds

Method:

1. In a 3 qt. saucepan, combine rice, salt, vegetable stock and tangelo juice.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover tightly with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes.

2. Add pepper, peas, apricot, coriander and taste for salt, possibly adding a little more, depending on the stock you used.  Stir throughly and cover again, let simmer another 20-25 minutes until the rice is cooked but with a nice toothsome texture.

3. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 2 minutes.  Remove lid, stir in chopped almonds and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Wimbledon Frittata Muffins

No, I wasn't at Wimbledon, but I am a huge tennis fan and this year was a fantastic tournament.  Sunday's Gentlemen's Singles Final match was truly epic and I had a conundrum:  it was on in New York starting 9 a.m. EDT and by mid-match we were hungry but glued to the television.  So, in an effort to make a meal we could eat in front of the TV (a CARDINAL SIN at Scrumptious Street ha ha for those who clicked that link) I tried out something new.  Here is a photo of my "Frittata Muffins".

I almost didn't post this, but Mr. Scrumptious lovingly reminded me that not all delicious food must be beautiful and that an idea that's perfectly executed in my mind but less than perfect in reality doesn't have to remain a secret.  Wise man, that Mr. Scrumptious.

The idea was that I'd have a frittata taste and style, but poured into muffin tins so that it would be puffy, airy and light and we could eat with our hands.  As they were progressing, I kept getting more and more excited, because they did EXACTLY what I thought and hoped they would.  After several minutes of baking they browned and then puffed up, just like muffins do so that there was a beautiful dome on top.  I watched through the light and never opened the door and saw them becoming crispy, golden and the perfect model of a frittata muffin.  I squealed in delight and triumph.  When they were finished, I removed them and set them on the counter, ready to position my camera.  And promptly, quietly, without warning and by the time I'd turned around, they had collapsed.  As did my excitement and demeanor.  Alas, I should have realized that for my idea to work, I needed to treat them as a soufflé.  And, I thought I was so clever by placing the muffin tin in the oven while it was preheating so that the tin would be hot when I poured in the egg, so they'd get brown even on the bottom, like a regular frittata. That part did work great!
   
I was ready to hide them away from you all in shame, when Mr. Scrumptious reminded me that not everything has to be perfect and that sometimes sharing the mistakes is good too.  We can all learn from this one, including the fact that eggs are infinitely delicate, even though they seem robust.  It all depends on how you treat them.  So, I should have tried it by separating the yolks and vigorously whisking the whites and adding it all so slowly.  But, in my haste not to miss anything good in the match, it didn't occur to me until too late.

Nevertheless, here is the recipe.  I will surely try them again and see if I can get them to stay aloft.  My solution to the problem was to serve them in lettuce "cups" with a light mustard vinaigrette dressing.  It turned out to be spectacular.  So, even though not perfectly executed, delicious and pretty in its own rustic way, I guess.

Ingredients:
Makes 6 "muffins"

4 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 T. minced fresh herbs, lemon thyme and tarragon from my herb garden here
1 oz. diced provolone cheese
1/4 tsp. dried mustard
2 scallions, white part only
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 white asparagus spear from a jar
butter lettuce leaves for eating

Dijon vinaigrette:
1/2 lemon, squeezed for juice
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil, streamed in
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Brush the cups of a muffin tin with olive oil and place a muffin tin in the oven and preheat to 400˚F.
2.  Mince the herbs, cut the asparagus into about 8 chunks and chop the cheese.  Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and mustard in a liquid measuring cup with spout.  Stir in the herbs and cheese.
3. When oven is preheated, pour the egg mixture directly into the muffin tin cups. Spread the asparagus into two of the muffin tin cups.
4. Place muffin tin in the oven and bake 14-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Make the vinaigrette and toss the lettuce leaves in the dressing.
5. Remove the muffin tin from oven and let the "muffins" cool slightly until you can run a knife around the edge and scoop them out with a spoon.  Place in the lettuce leaves and eat immediately.

By the way, even if I had done them like a soufflé, I still would likely have only gotten 3-4 minutes before they collapsed.  C'est la vie.

 

Anyway You Like 'Em Pannekoek (pancakes)

Mr. Scrumptious and I revere Pannekoek.  Literally translated, they mean "pan cakes" and are South African from Dutch roots, of course.  They are like crêpes when sweet, also very much like galettes when savory, but are not made of buckwheat flour.  They are like thin pancakes (not flapjacks) or German Pfannkuchen.  No matter the language, the country or the filling, there is something immensely satisfying, comforting and delicious about making a bowl of light and airy batter which you can turn into a soft and delicate snack, meal, appetizer or entree filled with your favorite savory stuffings.  Or your favorite sweet accents for desserts.

The sheer magnitude of variations left up to your imagination and edible wares and stores?  Bliss!!  This is not something I grew up making in my family.  This is not something my parents grew up making in their families.  In the States, it's usually pancakes or flapjacks, which mean thick and heavy and topped with butter, syrup or fruit.  These little babies are delicate and light, really meant to ensconce whatever beauty or treasure you tuck inside or eat with them. 

Mr. Scrumptious grew up eating these, as basic as flapjacks to kids from the States and his family always dusted them with cinnamon and sugar.   When I lived in Germany for a couple of years, I had them with sprinklings of confectioner's sugar and squeezes of fresh lemon juice.  Trust me, that's AMAZING.  So, a few months ago on a Sunday night we decided to make them.  We had so much fun standing at the stove together, making the pannekoek one at a time and eating them right there standing over the counter.  We'd make one and dust it with cinnamon and sugar, split it in half and each have a piece.  The next one would be confectioner's sugar and lemon we'd cut in half and share.  And Repeat.  We did this for nearly an hour.  We had so much fun, loving the intimacy, the playfulness and the simplicity of the delicious food. 

A couple of weeks ago we both got the craving again and decided this time we'd document it for the blog.  We also made a savory version, with mushrooms, leeks, basil and pinenuts.

Oh, it is so joyful to make these, to stuff or accent as you wish and to share them with someone you love.   There are few expressions of love that are quite as simple and powerful as making food together and feeding each other by hand.  Unfortunately, I only photographed the food, we didn't get any feeding shots.  Probably best.

Our recipe, however, is from an Afrikaans cookbook.  That means it's only in metric system and I'm translating as I go.  You may want to find an imperial version out there.  Otherwise, pull out your handy kitchen scale that converts between metric and imperial and you're all set.

Pannekoek Recipe:
Makes 8-10 large pancakes

250 ml flour
1 ml baking powder
2.5 ml (1/2 t.) salt
250 ml milk
2 small eggs
cinnamon-sugar if desired

Method:

1. Add flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir with a spoon to mix.  Put in the milk and eggs and whisk until very smooth and the lumps are gone from the batter.  Whisk genty, you don't want to make the batter stiff, just light and fully mixed.

2. Cover the batter with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Letting it stand for at least 4 hours is better, it helps make the batter fluffier.

3. Heat a large non-stick skillet over low-medium heat and add nonstick spray or a little margarine, depending on your preference.  Pour a very thin layer of batter in the pan when hot and tilt the pan to evenly coat the bottom of the pan.  Wait a couple of minutes until the first side is golden brown and comes free of the pan.

4. If you're Mr. Scrumptious, pull the skillet off the stovetop, turn sideways, stick out your tongue in concentration and toss the pannekoek in the air, flipping with your wrist and making it land on the opposite side.  Giggle whether success or failure at this point.  Cook the other side until very light brown and then slide onto a plate.

5. Dust your sweet topping of choice or fill with a savory stuffing of your choice and roll the pannekoek up into a long, thin tube.  Eat directly or cut in half and mouth-feed your loved one.

6. Repeat until you've eaten every last bite and don't wipe that smile off your face for the rest of the day!

We had three varieties: 1) cinammon and sugar 2) powdered sugar and lemon juice and 3) mushroom, leeks, basil and pinenuts with a tomato-garlic-cream dipping sauce.  On the savory ones, I did lightly saute the mushrooms and leeks first and used toasted pinenuts.  I left the basil raw for maximum flavor.  I didn't note the measurements for any of the fillings.  Just use your tastebuds and your judgement and you'll be fine. Have fun!

Scrumptious Tea Time

Some Sundays, I make a full-on feast and other days I just want to relax and spend quiet time with Mr. Scrumptious. On those days, one of our favorite rituals is late afternoon tea.

This weekend after cleaning up the brunch dishes, Mr. Scrumptious came into the kitchen to find me busy with the bowls and pans and pulling ingredients from the pantry.  He smiled gently and asked "What are you making?" I replied, "Mini Banana Pecan Muffins" and he laughed, saying "The smell of overripe bananas got you, didn't it?"  Indeed.  I spied two ripe and browning bananas and knew they were bound to be the snickey snack for our afternoon tea. 

I used a pretty standard banana and pecan bread recipe but added a couple of my unique touches.  We bought the tea set you see in the photos at a great store here in New York called Subtle Tea and since the set is so festive and whimsical I decided to do mini muffins instead of a bread.  Actually, I did 24 muffins and a small loaf of bread since I still had some extra batter after filling the cups.  I used the mini silicone baking cups for the first time and loved them! I should have bought 36 of them, however.  I'll be writing them up over on one of my other blogging gigs.  If you happen to live in New York, I heart this tea shop! They have incredible quality and mixes available.

Here's my recipe for the "Mini Banana, Pecan and Ginger Muffins".

Ingredients:
Makes 36 mini muffins or about 18 small muffins

2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/4 c. whole milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 c. sugar
1 medium egg
1/2 c. salted butter
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. pecans, toasted and chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 360˚Farenheit.  Place the bananas in a medium bowl and mash.  Add the milk, vanilla extract and ground ginger and continue mashing and stirring until thoroughly mixed and the consistency of very thick soup.

2. In a large bowl cream together the sugar, egg and butter making a smooth and even consistency. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

4. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the creamed butter and mix evenly with a wooden spoon, stopping as soon as the flour is incorporated.  Add one-half of the banana mixture and stir gently.  Repeat with the remaining flour and banana and stir only until it's all incorporated.  Do not overmix this batter or the muffins will be dense and chewy instead of light.  Add the chopped pecans and fold in gently. 

5. If using the silicone muffin cups, you don't need to prepare them, you'll simply fill them and place them on a baking sheet.  If using regular or small muffin tins, grease thoroughly.  Fill the muffin cups of choice to a level just below the rim, a little over 2/3 full.

6. Bake the muffins until golden brown, springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.  The length of time will depend upon your muffin cups.  My mini silicone cups took 16 minutes.  Small muffin tins would take about 20-25 minutes and large muffins would probably take 30-35 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven when done and set the baking sheet on a cooling rack for a few minutes.  Move the muffins to the rack directly and let cool completely before removing the silicone muffin cup.  Serve and enjoy!

These are delicate, moist and the classic combination of bananas and pecans works so well as always.  The vanilla and ginger give them a more balanced flavor but I promise I haven't used so much  that they taste of ginger.  They do not, it simply has a deeper flavor and it goes extremely well with the light and floral flavor of the rooibos tea we drank.  Sunday tea is such a treat when it's done with love.

Scrumptious New Year

Happy New Year to all my Scrumptious Street readers! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and you either escaped the temptation to over-indulge or you're mature enough that the guilt of doing so doesn't bother you!

We held our inaugural New Year's Eve party this year and had a blast with some of our closest friends.  Since it's a time of year when everything can be hectic and normally over-scheduled New Yorkers become frantic, it was a relaxing celebration with some seriously cool people.  Thanks to all our guests for ringing in 2007 with us and hopefully next year even more people can make it. 

We'd only arrived back in town the night of December 30, so the food was on the light and simple side.  I didn't keep track of any recipes, but you see some photos here and it was really a cocktail party rather than a dinner party.

The food included:
* Artichoke and Red Pepper puree served in artichoke heart bottoms
* My own Guacamole
* My newly invented Pink Peppercorn Parmesan dip -- I'll do a separate posting on this, it was DELICIOUS
* Rosemary Olive Bread with Goat Cheese
* Shropshire Blue Cheese with Ruby Port Glaze and Spiced Walnuts
* Thanks to my shopping spree at Buon Italia, a phenomenal cured meats and cheeses antipasto platter including Proscuitto San Daniele with cantaloupe, Bresaola with ruby-red grapefruit, spicy Sopressata, sweet Sopressata, Provolone, Fontina, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a spectacular sour cherry preserve as the perfect topping for the cheeses.  It went especially well with the provolone.

We also had plenty of libations for our snickey snacks and gnoshes since the wine rack at Scrumptious Street is always full.  We had champagne and prosecco, as well as some gorgeous wine.  I was in the mood to play bartender, since the cooking was so easy, so I made a couple of terrific cocktails.  One is my own pomegranate martini, with a shot of vodka, a splash of Rose's sweetened lime juice and a shot of pomegranate juice.  Shake in martini shaker and garnish with a slice of lime.  The second and truly phenomenal cocktail was from Food & Wine's website, the Rosemary Gin Fizz.  It was fantastic! And, I am a professed anti-gin drinker! Make sure to make the rosemary syrup too.  Wow.  I was paying for too many of these the day after...

May you all have a happy, healthy and inspiring year and I wish you a life of personal fulfillment and wonder at life's surprises.  All the best in 2007 to you!

Snickey-Snacks Macadamia Style

I have always played with words, invented them and found language to be an endless source of entertainment and amusement.  Somewhere when I was growing up, I made up the word "snickey" and began to use it as an adjective with the noun snacks to describe some very tasty and playful little morsel.  Snickey-snacks.  I made this word up so long ago that now I don't remember exactly when; it is so natural that sometimes I forget it's a Stephanie word and not a dictionary word.  My Dad sometimes uses this phrase.  Mr. Scrumptious definitely has adopted this phrase.  The term snickey-snacks represents the sense of joy and fun that comes with not really going through the effort of a meal but popping something small, simple and delicious into your mouth.  Sometimes I don't want food, or a meal, or to dine.  I just want a really awesome snickey-snack.

Recently a colleague was feeling a little dejected and upset.  I know that she loves macadamia nuts and on the way out the door from work one night I stopped by her office and said, "Name an ingredient.  The first thing that comes to your mind."  Her immediate reply was "nutmeg".  My self-proclaimed mission, which I chose to accept, was to make up a snickey-snack using macadamia nuts and nutmeg to take into the office for her next day.  These simple, fun and comforting "Spiced Macadamia Nuts" were my result, and my own snickey-snack created just for her.  She liked them and this also fits well with some of the holiday themes we're thinking about these days.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

6 oz. roasted macadamia nuts
1/3 c. valencia orange juice, freshly squeezed and strained of pulp, about 1 1/2 oranges
6 tsp. turbinado sugar
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsp. fresh shredded, unsweetened coconut

Method:
Preheat oven to 380˚ F.  Line a baking sheet or rimmed jelly roll with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Place a small skillet over moderate heat and toast the macadamia nuts in the skillet until they begin to dry out and turn a light golden brown color.  Remove from heat and spread the nuts flat on the rimmed baking sheet or jelly-roll pan to cool slightly. 

Wipe out the skillet and add the orange juice strained of all pulp and seeds and the turbinado sugar.  Return the skillet to low heat and melt the juice and the sugar so that it combines into a simple syrup.  Add the nutmeg and use a wooden spoon to stir and combine the ingredients and allow the syrup to thicken.  When the syrup thickly coats the back of the wooden spoon but before it gets sticky, add the macadamia nuts back to the syrup in the skillet.  Quickly turn the nuts around in the pan, coating them evenly with syrup.  Drop the nuts onto the prepared baking sheet or pan, spreading out into an even single layer so they aren't touching one another.  Sprinkle the nuts with fresh shredded coconut. 

Bake at 380˚F for five minutes.  Remove from the oven and let nuts cool completely.  Snack to your heart's content.